Why some vehicles are allowed to violate noise laws | Why Guy

That’s a question many people ask. You’re travelling down the highway or walking down a sidewalk and a car or motorcycle whizzes by you. The sound from the tailpipe is earth shaking loud.

Author:
Walt Gray

Published:
9:14 AM PST December 17, 2018

Updated:
4:16 PM PDT May 8, 2019

Today’s Why Guy question comes to us from Facebook user David Hylton.

"Why are vehicles allowed to violate noise laws with their enhanced muffler systems?"

That’s a question many people ask. You’re travelling down the highway or walking down a sidewalk and a car or motorcycle whizzes by you. The sound from the tailpipe is earth shaking loud. Way louder than the 95 decibels the law allows and louder than a jet plane over your house.

Californians love to take off the factory muffler or pipes and go with louder ones to get you to turn your head.

Cops say they do write tickets, but some violators find ways around it.

"Often we observe a mechanical violation and issue a fix-it ticket," CHP Officer Brad Sadek said. "The violators will correct the deficiency, then reinstall the equipment that got them the ticket in the first place."

So that’s one way people get around it. Fix it and switch it. That’s assuming that won’t get them pulled over another time for the same violation.

Many who use aftermarket pipes do so feeling that cops have better things to do than chase them down, which is understandable.

For our motorcycle friends who put on aftermarket pipes right after they purchase a new bike, the first offense if you get busted is between $50 and $100, according to the DMV. A second offense is between $100 and $250.

So if you want to roll the dice on your loud pipes, that’s on you. The policeman cannot only see this type of violation, he can hear it, too.